As you may know, over the past few weeks Congress has been meeting in what is sometimes referred to as a "lame duck" session to consider issues including tax cuts, unemployment benefits, government spending, gays in the military, and nuclear arms. Please tell me whether you approve or disapprove of the way each of the following have handled those issues under consideration during this session: (RANDOM ORDER)

Overall, 42% had a favorable opinion of the GOP while 50% had an unfavorable opinion. The public was split at 47% on the Democratic Party.

One important finding from the poll is that the public believes President Obama has done an effective job at reaching out to Republicans -- but they don't believe Republicans have done an effective job at reaching out to President Obama. 59% said President Obama was doing enough to work with Republicans (up from 47% in February), but just 28% said Republicans were doing enough to work with President Obama.

This hasn't just boosted Obama's ratings, it's also boosted Democrats relative to Republicans. In February, 35% said Democrats were mostly responsible for the lack of cooperation in DC compared and 37% blamed Republicans. Now, 46% blame Republicans and just 28% blame Democrats.

The implication of this is that the public is looking to the GOP to give more ground the next time compromise is required. In February, 51% felt Democrats needed to give up more than Republicans compared to 43% who felt Republicans needed to give up more than Democrats. That's now shifted: 45% say Democrats need to give up more while 47% say Republicans need to give up more.

This article cites respondents' approval/disapproval of the way Obama handled four issues in the lame duck session. Although overall approval ratings of the Republican and Democratic parties are mentioned, Obama's is not. This is a disingenuous misrepresentation.

In fact, this poll gave Obama a 48% overall job approval rating - exactly the same as the result in the previous CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted a month ago. Further, the RCP average clearly shows Obama's lame duck bounce to be nothing more than wishful thinking.

polls were taken before the votes this week and skew the average. If you look at the polls taken since the passage of DADT, etc. you can see a definite bump. And it's too early to tell yet whether it's a bump or a trend.

PS, since Rasmussen uses questionable weighting that always favors Republicans, you can add 3-5 points to their results.

I challenged the obfuscation in the OP because it presents approval of Obama's handling of four lame duck issues in a way that encourages readers to conclude it is his overall approval rating. It is not. I have shown that Obama's CNN/Opinion Research approval rating is exactly the same as when that poll was last conducted.

You did notice that, right? Exactly the same.

So now you want to ignore this clear fact and cherrypick a different poll result. OK, fine. I merely pointed out that the 2% increase in the Gallup poll result is within its 3% MOE. Am I wrong about that, or am I right? Because if I'm right, you have presented evidence that is inconclusive, particularly since the Gallup result is not consistent with that of the CNN/Opinion Research poll cited in the OP - or with that of other recent polls (which you have ignored) that show a decrease in Obama's job approval rating, compared to their earlier results.

According to the polls, there has been no significant change in Obama's average job approval rating for months. I say there has been no lame duck bounce.

You don't like that, but you can offer no argument to the contrary. So you accuse me of wanting to minimize something that doesn't exist. Oh and look, here comes the chorus: I'm "digging", I'm "doing nothing but embarrassing" myself, and the "good news" is making me "break out in hives".

If you and your sympathizers get to a point where you resort to personal attacks because that's all you have left, it could be because you're just plain wrong about that particular issue.

You said, "He hasn't been at 49% since July 1st." You didn't say, "He hasn't been at 49% in the Gallup poll since July 1st." This is a clear matter of record, but such facts haven't slowed you down so far. I'm sure you will claim you said something else.

Further, it is not your place to tell me what I compare, and what I don't. I will compare anything I like, such as comparing your argument with reality - but that is better described as a contrast.

I have already pointed out the false assertion set forth in the OP, in a manner that is easily grasped by any reasonable person. But you know for sure that current polls say something they don't, and none of my annoying facts are going to penetrate your thick cloud of denial.

Thank you for the amusing exchange. I'm going to move on now, to other issues that are in need of desperate minimizing.

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